The Least, The Lost, The Lonely

This time of year can be very hard for many. I have
been pondering 'loneliness.' It has taken me back
to the time of Job and Abraham, to Samuel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, King David, Esther, Ruth, Naomi, and to
Jesus. No one expects loneliness, leastness, but for
most of us, our lives are lived between the moun-
tain peaks of fullness, plenty, good health and close
friends.Yes, we have face time, twitter, texting and
the telephone, but it doesn't replace a cup of coffee
and a real person. :)

I think Mary was one of the loneliest of women.
We don't know what her family and friends believed
about her pregnancy--gossip. The baby was born
without her mother. Mary was probably not more
than fifteen or sixteen. The Bible does not speak of
a midwife in attendance but in my minds eye, I can
see her...What we do see shows a happy couple and
the baby, but birth is messy, exhausting, and scary.
Added to all of this was poverty.

It is when our expectations don't line up with reality
that we get into trouble. I saw a short Vid Angel
piece yesterday called The Shepard. It is at the 47
minute mark of a sermon by JD Farag, a Palestinian
Pastor in Hawaii. The video is very well done, with
many subtle pictures.

Begin at the 47 mark for the video--or watch it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6HbIEds0Q

Hallelujah

Christmas morn and we waken to new fallen snow with
sun flaming the peaks far off. I sit here pondering the
birth of a babe born two thousand years ago. God came
in the flesh. He is called Emmanuel, God with us. Every-
thing changed that day. Everything. Man is still trying to
wipe out Christmas in hopes that this birth will be forgot-
ten, annulled.

Last night we went to a precious Christmas Eve service.
It was all about Him. We joined the Shepherds and the
Wise Men in worship. My Christmas present to you is
a Hallelujah Song that may be familiar to many of you
but with different words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4U2pGgrsC0

His Birth; His Death

God forbid that I should boast except in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Galatians 6:14

When you act in confident faith in what our Lord 
did on the cross, a supernatural identification with 
His death takes place immediately. The proof that
your old life is dead...is the amazing ease with
which the life of God in you now enables you to
obey the voice of Jesus Christ.  
Oswald Chambers

Reader, do you understand this? Have you come
to the place where you KNOW your old man
is dead? See Romans 6

A Softly Closing Door

For everything there is a season. Ecc 3:1

Yesterday a door closed softly. David, Sarah and Noah
left to board a plane as they headed to Belgium, David's
family and Christmas. They have lived with us for the
past four months. Overall we have blended well to-
gether. BUT, suddenly the sounds of a six year old at
play and the long dinners together--not to mention the
games in the evening,-- are over. In the sadness of their
leaving comes a joyful satisfaction and gratefulness for
the unbroken unity we had together. Yes, it is far too
quiet, Sarah did not walk with her Dad and our dog to-
day at 8AM, nor did a sleepy Noah give me a warm hug.
The time went by so fast. They plan to live in Europe
for a few years, where a big family is waiting to em-
brace them. It will be David's first Christmas with his
family in 17 years!

The last week has been intense. On Thursday the 14th
of December David became a US citizen. Friends flew
in for the festivities and our beds were full. On Saturday
evening we celebrated with a big party, the highlight be-
ing a fire work display with music that David put to-
gether. It was pretty awesome as we heard 'Im Glad to
Be an American' and 'God Bless America' timed with
the sound of the fire crackers. Oh, did I mention that
David left on the 14th, right after the swearing in to fly
to Seattle where he could obtain a passport in one day?

So, why are they leaving? They want Noah to get to
know his cousins, the culture and the language and there
are some business opportunities for David. We are pray-
ing for a place to live, and for Sarah to learn the lan-
guage quickly. She and Noah have been studying Dutch
on Rosetta Stone. Noah is outgoing and has no problem
with mistakes! He will be in first grade.

Reader, I can understand why God has had me in the
book, Victory in Christ. I need to give thanks for the past
months and walk forward in Christ and in His victory.
Yes, a door has closed but all eternity stretches out be-
fore us with a wide open door ahead.  

Heavy Seas

He has given his very great and precious promises. 2 Peter 1:4

When a shipbuilder erects a boat, does he do so only to keep it 
on the scaffolding? No, he builds it to sail the seas and to weather 
the storms. In fact, if he does not think of strong winds and hurri-
canes as he build it, he is a poor shipbuilder.

In the same way, when God made you a believer, He meant to 
test you. And when He gave you promises and asked you to trust 
them, He made His promises suitable for times of storms and 
high seas. Do you believe that some of His promises are counter-
feit, similar to a life vest that looks good in the store but is of no 
use in the sea?

We have all seen swords that are beautiful but are useless in war, 
or shoes made for decoration, but not for walking. Yet God's shoes 
are made of iron and brass, and we can walk all the way to hea-
ven, without wearing them out. And we could swim the Atlantic 
a thousand times in His life vest, with no fear of ever sinking. His 
Word of promise is meant to be tried and tested. 

There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for HIS people to pub-
locally profess Him and then not use Him. He loves for us to make
use of Him, for His covenant blessings are not simply meant to be
looked at but should be appropriated. Our Lord Jesus has been 
given to us for our present use. Are you making use of Him as you
should? 

O beloved, I plead with you not to treat God's promises as some-
thing to be displayed in a museum but to use them as everyday
sources of comfort. And whenever you have a time of need, trust
the Lord.  Charles H Spurgeon

Go to the depths of God's promise,
And claim whatsoever you will;
The blessings of God will not fail you,
His Word will surely fulfill.  Anonymous

How can God say no to something He has promised?

Reader, there is such joy in trusting our Savior, the all sufficient
One, Sovereign, all powerful, Creator of the heavens and the
earth. How can we lose?
He lives in us and is for us!

I Will BE JOYFUL!

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes
on the vines; though the olive crop fails and the fields
produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my savior. Hab 3:17-18

I ask you to observe what a disastrous situation is being
described in this passage and to notice how courageous
is the faith that is expressed. It is as if the writer were ac-
tually saying, "Even if I am forced to undergo the extreme
condition of not knowing where to find my next meal, and
although my house is empty and my fields yield no crops
and I see the evidence of divine pestilence where I once
saw the fruits of God's plentiful providence, 'yet will I re-
joice in the Lord.'"

I believe that these words are worthy of being written for-
ever in stone with a diamond tool. Oh, by God's grace, may
they be deeply etched on the tablets of each of our hearts!
Although the above verse is very concise, it nevertheless im-
plies or expresses the following thoughts of the writer: that
in his time of distress he would flee to God; that he would
maintain his spiritual composure under the darkest circum-
stances; and that in the midst of everything, he would de-
light himself with a sacred joy in God and have cheerful ex-
pectations of Him.

Heroic confidence! Glorious faith! Unconquerable love!
Philip Dodridge

Reader, does not this kind of faith tug at your heart strings?
Do you know that as we pray for the persecuted all over the
world, those suffering for their faith in Jesus, that we read
of this kind of faith and also of how God met deep needs?
Oh, that we could grasp the depth of both His love and His
power on our behalf!

If you have a heart for the persecuted church check out these
resources:

Touch of Christ Ministries--to the lost in the Middle East.
We have met them and this couple is quite awesome. They
send out a letter each month of how God is changing hearts.
tocministries@gmail.com// website www.touchofchrist.net
703-888-8374

Voice of the Martyrs who help the suffering church all over
the globe has a monthly newsletter with amazing stories.
www.persecution.com or call 800-747-0085

Devastating Delays

Yet when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where
he was two more days. John 11:6

This miraculous story begins with the following declaration:
"Jesus lOVED Martha, and her sister and Lazarus." It is as 
if God were teaching us that at the very heart and foundation 
of all His dealings with us, no matter how dark and mysterious 
they may be, we must dare to believe in and affirm His infinite, 
unmerited, and unchanging love. Yet love permits pain to occur.

Mary and Martha never doubted that Jesus would quickly a-
vert every obstacle to keep their brother from death, "yet when 
he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed..."

What a startling word: "YET!" Jesus refrained from going not 
because he did not love them but because He did love them! It 
was His love alone that kept Him from hurrying at once to 
their beloved yet grief-stricken home. Anything less than infin-
ite love would have rushed instantly to the relief of those belo-
ved and troubled hearts, in an effort to end their grief, to have 
the blessing of wiping and stopping the flow of their tears, and 
to cause their sorrow and pain to flee. Only the power of divine 
love could have held back the spontaneity of the Savior's tender-
heartedness untill the angel of pain had finished his work.

Who can estimate the great debt we owe to suffering and pain? 
If not for them, we would have little capacity for many of the 
great virtues of the Christian life. Where would our faith be if 
not for the trials that test it; or patience without anything to en-
dure or experience and without tribulations to develop it. How
would it be possible to shout,"victory" without suffering?
SELECTED

Reader, we are in the season of the Incarnation, God became
flesh. Mary, Martha, and their brother had no clue that the
One they loved would die for their sins. Jesus did tell Martha
that He was the Resurrection and Life, but not what it would
cost Him. Our precious Lord is beyond words...

Do Not Be Discouraged

You are my King and my God who decrees victories
for Jacob. Psalm 44:4

There are no enemies to your growth grace, or to your
Christian work, that were not included in your Savior's
victory. Remember, "The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not 
be afraid of them because...I will hand all of them o-
ver to (you).'"(Josh 11:6.) Also recall the fact that
when you resist your enemies, they "will free from you"
(James 4:7) And remember what Joshua said to the
people: "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be 
strong and courageous." (Josh 10:25) The Lord is 
with you,mighty men of valour" (Josh 1:14,) and you
are mighty because you are one with the Mightiest.
So claim your victory!

Whenever your enemies are closing in on you, claim
victory! Whenever your heart and your flesh fail you,
look up and claim victory! Be sure you claim your
share in the triumph that Jesus won, for He won it
not for Himself alone but for us all. Remember that
you were in Him when He won it--so claim victory!

Count Christ's victory as yours and gather the spoils
of the war. Neither the giant "descendants of Anak"
(Num 13:33) nor fortified cities need intimidate or de-
feat you. You are part of the conquering army. Claim
your share in the Savior's victory, from Joshua!
FB Meyer

Reader, I am not the one focused on the word, 'victory.'
God is.

Perils and Pitfalls

The following contains the various pitfalls we can encounter
in living a victorious life in Him. It is the last of this topic
from the little book, Victory in Christ. I am so impressed by
the contents that I am giving it to friends this Christmas.

Two perils are presented in the last chapter of our book:
our supposing on the one hand, that the longer we continue 
in victory, the safer we are; on the other hand, that if we sin 
we have broken our victory, and are weaker and less certain 
of continued victory. However, the victory is not relative, 
not a matter of degree. It is the freedom with which 
"the Son sets men free." John 8:36. 
It is not that we are given "sinless perfection." We always 
have the flesh and can fall into self, into sin, any moment 
that we fail to trust Christ for His victory in us.

If Satan cannot tempt us in one area he will go to the next. 
He will push us to go further than God is asking, get us into 
asceticism, or push us into following a pattern that God has 
given us in the past, but which may not be what God wants 
in the present. We may get the mistaken idea that when we 
have a choice between something hard and something easy, 
the hard thing is always God's will. God's leadings never 
nag, worry or harass. Satan's suggestions do. 
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, 
but prove the spirits, 
whether they are of God." 
1 John 4:1. 

Do not depend on experiences. God wants us to trust, not in 
supernatural experiences, but in Himself. It is so easy to trust 
in our feelings and to look at how we are trusting when joy 
flows. Spurgeon said this: 
"I looked at Jesus, and the dove of peace flew into my heart. 
I looked at the dove of peace, and she flew away."

Then there is the peril of pride. Almost without realizing it 
the Christian can have condescending thoughts and speak
negatively regarding a fellow Christian. It is easy to forget 
that victory only comes in Christ. We as Christians can be-
come unteachable with hearts closed to counsel. May God 
deliver us from this subtle danger of unwillingness to learn 
from others. He is our humility...
Charles G Trumbull

"Amid all these things we are more than conquerors 
through him who has loved us," and "To God be the
thanks who in Christ ever heads our triumphal pro-
cession, and by our hands waves in every place that
sweet incense, the knowledge of him. "
Weymouth, Rom 8:37, 2 Cor 2:14

Reader, thus ends the topic, for now, on victory in Christ.
The book can be found at Christian Book Distributers--
CBD. The writers of the 19th century, early twentieth cen-
tury have something that I don't find in most books of to-
day. My desire is to be part of the Church of Philadelphia
instead of the Church of Laodicea. Jesus told this church
that it was:
"Wretched, poor, pitiable, blind and naked...
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, 
so be zealous and repent... (Turn around)
The one who conquers, 
I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, 
as I also conquered 
and sat down with my Father on his throne. 
He who has an ear, 
let him hear 
what the Spirit says to the churches." 
(Revelation 3)

Dearest reader, the hour is late--look at the headlines--.
Take a ball of twine and color the tip black or red, then
pull it out until there is a pile of string around your feet.
The tip is your life here--
and then comes forever.
It is time to get serious!
Maranatha.

The Kickback

It is not a once-for-all victory; it is a moment by moment victory.
It is the believer looking away from all else and "Unto Jesus, 
the author and finisher of our faith." Heb 12:2

But what a perilous life it is! Satan hates it; for it is an adver-
tisement of the sufficiency of his Conqueror, Jesus Christ. To 
trust Christ for complete victory is to be moved up to the front 
line of trench warfare; and front line trenches are perilous 
places when the attack is on. There is no life in the world so 
perilous as the Victorious Life. And there is no life so safe. 
Where the onslaughts of the Adversary are the most terrific, 
the grace of the Captain of our salvation is the most effectively 
demonstrated.

Many have iterated and reiterated, that it is the most tempted 
life that we can live. Our Lord was tempted. The temptations 
we face come as never before: desperate, diabolical, hellish, 
subtle, refined, gross, spiritual, fleshly--the whole gamut of all 
the deception and the downfall that the world, the flesh, and 
the Devil can bring to the soul of the child of God. But Christ 
sees them all, and He is standing on sentry-guard in our lives 
against them; the Word of God has disclosed them all to us, 
and this "sword of the Spirit" is our sure weapon. 

If there should be failure through unbelief when failure comes 
and the enemy whispers, "You have sinned; and that proves 
you never believed the blessing you thought you had: you never 
had the Victorious Life." This is a lie of course. At Keswick 
they said, "If you should fail, shout VICTORY! Not with the 
idea of denying the reality of failure, but in recognition of the 
fact that Jesus has not failed. The enemy will also tell you that 
it will not have victory until we get apart with the Lord for a 
day, or an hour, or five minutes. But our Lord says that we can 
believe Him for instant cleansing and restoration. 
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to for-
give us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9 Charles G Trumbull

Reader, have you been trying to put into practice the walking in
victory? How has it been with you? I have had so many oppor-
tunities of testing in the last few weeks. Press in and press on.
I know a life of victory is possible for each one of us.

The Story of a Great Minister

This is the story of the circumstances that revolutionized 
the life of one of the best known ministers in Great Britain, 
whom God made a tower of strength for 45 years and who
gave the message of Victory at the Keswick Conventions. 

It was back in 1874 that a young church vicar, Rev Webb-
Peploe, with his wife went to the  seashore with their one
year old, the youngest child. There Mr Webb-Peploe met 
Sir Arthur Blackwood, an older man who asked him, 
"Have you got rest?"

"What do you mean by that? My sins are all forgiven 
through the blood of Jesus Christ, and I know He will take 
me home to heaven when I die."

"Yes, but what about the time between? Have you rest in 
all your work as a clergyman, and in your parish troubles?"

"No, but I wish I had" said the young man honestly.

"So do I, and today the great Oxford Convention begins.
(This was the forerunner of the Keswick Convention.) I
will be receiving an account of each meeting and we can
get together to read these accounts and then ask God to
give us the blessing of 'the rest of faith' which they will 
speak of."

For three days the two men met together then Mr Webb-
Peplos's little child was suddenly taken away by the 
Heavenly Father. His earthly father took the little boy 
home, and reached there much wounded in feeling 
through contact with people who did not understand. After 
the funeral he began to prepare a sermon. He found his 
text in the lesson for that day, 2 Corinthians 12:9--"My 
grace is sufficient for thee." He spent two hours working 
on his sermon, and then he said to himself: "It is not true; 
I do not find it sufficient under this heavy burden." And his 
heart cried out to God to MAKE His grace sufficient for 
his hour of sore need and crushing sorrow.

As he wiped the tears away he glanced up and saw a text 
over his study table: "My grace is sufficient for thee." The 
word, 'is,' was in bold type and in a different color. At that 
moment the pastor seemed to hear a voice saying to him:
"You fool, how dare you ask God to MAKE what IS? 
Believe His word. Get up and trust Him, and you will find 
it true at every point." He took God at his word, he be-
lieved the fact, and his life was revolutionized. He entered 
into an experience of rest and peace, such trust in a suffi-
cient Savior, as he never before had dreamed could be 
possible. From that day and now 45 years later, many 
have praised God that the life of this minister of the Gospel 
is a testimony to the sufficiency of the grace which God de-
clares a fact.  Charles G Trumbull

Reader, the Living Lord indwells every Believer and all
of us have access to a life of peace and rest. Jesus has
overcome everything by His death. His last words were,
"IT IS FINISHED."

"IS"

My grace IS sufficient for you. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The little two letter verb "IS" is our Lord's wonderful
word to Paul and through him to every member in
the body of Christ. It is a veritable rock of ages. The
verb "IS" is the same verb as that which God says is
His own name, "I AM."

All of God's omnipotent sufficiency in His saving
delivering and keeping power for men is in Christ.
Christ is more than a promise: He is a fact, the eter-
nal Rock of Ages upon whom we may rest every-
thing. God's grace is Christ; and the grace of God
in Jesus Christ is sufficient.

The secret of victory is not praying but praising; not
asking, but thanking. All eternity will not be long e-
nough to finish praising and thanking our Lord Jesus
Christ for the simple, glorious fact that His grace IS
sufficient for us.
Charles G Trumbull

CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE

"I AM."  WHO ART THOU, LORD?
I AM--all things to thee;
Sufficient to thine every need;
 Thou art complete in Me.

I AM--thy Peace, thy Joy,
 Thy Righteousness, thy Might;
I Am--thy Victory o'er sin,
 Thy keeper day and night.

I Am--thy Way, thy Life;
 I Am--the Word of Truth;
Whate'er thy lack, I Am--to thee
 El Shaddai, Enough

I Am--thy Life within.
 Thine Everlasting Bread;
Eat of my Flesh, drink of my Blood,
 I Am-What does thou need?
Adah Richmond

Ah, reader, I woke up today singing,
His grace is sufficient
His grace is sufficient
His grace is sufficient for me.

Victory Without Trying, 2

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. 1Cor 1:31

He is all the theology we need in this practical matter
of the victorious life, of walking in the resurrection life.
"Of him," not of yourself, not of all your works, but of
Him; and this is preceded by the statement that "no
flesh should glory in His presence." Glory in the Lord,
in what He has done for you, and is doing for you, and
will do for you; not in what you do for God.

Somehow the church who believes in the redemption of
Christ from Him alone, has gotten the idea that, for sanc-
tification, we must paddle our own canoe."Thanks be to
God, who GIVETH us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:57) Both redemption and
sanctification are a gift. The whole things is given to
you, exclusive of your efforts and work.

Trumbull goes on to say: the first 25 years of my Chris-
tian life I lived in utter ignorance of the truth. It was on
August 14th, 1910 that the scales dropped from my eyes,
and I saw that Christ was my life. Christ was my victory.
I have gotten to the place where I have lost my interest in
the question of how God does things. But I do know that
God does this thing; and I know it not because of any ex-
periences of victory God has given me--blessed though
some have been--; but I know it because God says so. He
says: "Sin shall not have dominion over you," and, if 
that is not true, I have no hope of salvation, I have no 
hope of anything. But God is not a liar: He is the eternal 
truth; and because His Word is true, it means that God is 
responsible for my victory; and until I doubt Him, I am 
going to have victory.

If we have any faith at all--I mean, if we believe God is
faithful--let us quietly cease from our own works and stop 
trying to win the victory and His pleasure in what we do.   
Charles G Trumbull

Reader, I once asked a pastor what he did not like in
terms of "Christ being our victory." He told me that
those who believe this stop working, and then they leave.
Actually they stopped working because of burn out for
all was being accomplished in their own resources. I
eventually understood because the pastor made it too
difficult for us to stay. He did not want me to share these
truths with others. What Trumbull is preaching and how
he was able to live it, is a very unpopular teaching today.
The main question to ask is what is the truth that Paul
taught in Romans 6 and in the book of Galatians.

I have been crucified with Christ: 
nevertheless I live; 
yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me: 
and the life which I now live in the flesh 
I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me, and gave himself for me. 
Galatians 2:20

Living Hope Now

We have been justified and we will be glorified but what
about the 'meantime' as we live on earth? Perhaps we have
an hour yet to live before the Lord comes. And what of
that hour? The Christian isn't left untempted; He is a
shining mark for Satan: is there no hope, has grace no mes-
sage for this time, right now between then and now?

Yes! Thank God that there is! There is just as much hope
for this middle time as for the ending and as the beginning;
and it is just as truly God's grace. In Romans 5:10 we read
"For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being recon-
ciled, we shall be saved by his life." We were saved by his
death, now' in the meantime, in this present time, if we but
believe, we shall be kept safe (from the power of sin) in
His life. And that means His resurrection life. This is the
whole message of Romans 6, walking in the newness of
life, moment by moment, while we are waiting for our
resurrection bodies, having the joy of the resurrection life.
"For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; 
much more they which receive abundance of grace and 
of the gift of righteousness (not the work of righteous-
ness. It is an outright gift) shall reign in life (now and
here) by one,Jesus Christ."

And then that wonderful verse in Romans 6:14!
I don't know if there is a more blessed verse anywhere!
"Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are...
under grace." 
You are not under law, which says, "Do," but under grace
which says, "Done;" for grace excludes works from having
anything to do with this freedom from the dominion of sin.

Reader, there is still more in this chapter. What Trumbull
is saying is so huge. So difficult to grasp. I know it is truth,
but it is so opposite from what I have been taught on the
'work' of sanctification.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear ones!

Victory Without Trying

Trumbull begins this chapter by saying that he believes
that the most dangerous heresy of then and probably
now is "the emphasis in the professing church  itself,
on what we do for God, instead of what God does for
us." There is the subtle, all-pervading presence of that
thing: the emphasis in the church on what we do for
God.

May God make very plain to us all in this hour some-
thing about the grace of God. This mistaken emphasis
looks in exactly the opposite direction from grace. Not
that Christian works have no place in the Christian's
life. You know they have. But they follow the grace
of God; they do not precede it; and they are never the
condition of God's grace.

God's grace is not about God's attitude toward us but
His activity in our behalf. Grace means His tremen-
dous, omnipotent activity; the dynamite of Heaven
accomplishing things in our behalf, wholly indepen-
dent of what we are and what we do. Three things
God's grace does for us to show us what grace is:

1 The resurrection of the body--
Behold I tell you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trum-
pet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incor-
ruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Cor 15:51,52

2 The deliverance from the general bondage of cor-
rupttion in which all creation is at this time--
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered 
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:21

3 And our blessed hope of being caught up to meet
the Lord in the air--
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord. 1 Thes 4:16, 17

Do you notice that all three of those great verbs are
passive voice, not in the active voice?

Listen to Ephesians 2--You hath he made alive, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins...God, who is rich 
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
even when we were dead in sins, made us alive to-
gether with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;) and hath 
raised us up together.

Paul says, He hath raised us up together, and made 
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding 
riches of his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not 
of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest 
any man should boast.  Grace according to God's idea.

How much of that work does God do? The most of it?
Pretty nearly all of it. NO! ALL! Grace does not share
anything with man. Grace is not a joint effort. Grace
is not co-operation. Grace is jealous--as God is. Grace
means "God does it all." and it was done for us nine-
teen centuries before we were born.

Romans 4:5: To him that works not, but believes on
him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted 
for righteousness.  To him that works not--just keeps
absolutely still and simply believes on Him who justifies
the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness.We did
not bear our own sins. "Behold the lamb of God which 
takes away the sin of the world" That's why grace says:
"Done:
Finished!"

Reader, we will continue along this line tomorrow. The
author of the book, Victory in Christ, was one of the
busiest, most compassionate Christian of his time, in his
later life. Early on he wore out himself and everyone
around him. I want to learn what it means to rest in the
finished work of Christ! We are on this journey together!

Earned or a Gift

Every saved child of God at one time or another longs
for victory over sin. Yet many have sadly given up
hope of having a complete victory, mistakenly suppo-
sing that that blessing is only for the life after this.
They do not know how simple, and how immediately
available, is the victory for which they are not daring
to hope. It is right at hand in Christ, for all who let
Him undeceive them, and who will receive the victor-
ious life as the outright, supernatural gift of God.

The great truth that so many earnest surrendered
Christians have even yet failed to see is that salvation
is a twofold gift; freedom from the PENALTY of sin
and freedom from the POWER of sin. Most Christians
know that they are free from the penalty of sin, but
many have not realized that they may, in the same way,
by faith, be freed from the power of their sins. Even
though they know that their own efforts had nothing
to do with salvation, they are yet deceived by the
Adversary into believing that somehow their own ef-
forts must play a part in victory over their sins.

If we as Christians come to the Lord and say, "I want
to be saved from the power of my sins, and I will let
You save me provided You will let me share in the
work of overcoming their power, so that You and I
shall always know that part of this victory has been
accomplished by You, and part has been accomplished
by me." Christ Himself cannot save us from the power
of our sins? Think about it. When our Lord says to us
through Paul, "Sin shall not have dominion over you; 
for ye are not under law, but under grace," He wants
us to remember what grace is. Grace is not partly man's
work and partly God's work. It is wholly God's work
and exclusively God's work; and all that man can do is
to receive it as God's outright, undeserved, and wholly
sufficient gift.

The Lord wants our lives on earth to be one long Christ-
mas day of receiving His gift of Himself as our victory.
If we say that our experience refutes this, do we mean
that we have found through the help of our own efforts
a satisfying completeness of victory over all recog-
nized sin, so that impatience, irritation, unlove, impur-
ity, have all been taken out of our life, and we are able
to live from day to day not only free from our outward
expression of these sins, but free from their dominion
within us?

Our hope for victory over sin is not "Christ plus my
efforts," but "Christ plus my receiving." To receive
victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely
by His grace He is, this moment, freeing me from the
dominion of sin. And to believe on Him in this way
is to recognize that he is doing for us what we cannot
do for ourselves. When the Lord was in Nazareth He
could do "not many mighty works there because of--
"Their inactivity?" No; "because of their unbelief."
To attempt to share by our effort in what only grace
can do is to defeat grace.

"This only would I learn from you, Received ye 
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hear-
ing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in 
the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?...He 
therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and 
worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the 
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?...
For freedom did Christ set us free: Stand fast 
therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ has set 
us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke 
of bondage...But I say, 'Walk by the Spirit, and 
ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." 
Gal 3:2, 3, 5; 5:1,16

Let us never forget this simple truth: the faith which
lets Christ bring us into and sustain us in victory is
just remembering that Christ is faithful; that it is His
responsibility and duty to accomplish this miracle
in our lives. Charles G Trumbull

Reader, my prayer is that YOU GET THIS! Let me
know in the comment section if you have heard this
before, needed reminding, have never heard it but
intrigued. Pray for one another...

The True and the Counterfeit

I continue exploring with Charles G Trumbull. 

Victory is a great word in the NT but there are many dedica-

ted Christians who are, nevertheless, deceived day by day by 

counterfeit victory when God wants them to know the real 

thing. 

Jesus said, "Every one that commit sin is the bondservant 

of sin...If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall 

be free indeed." John 8:34-36

The Holy Spirit spoke through Paul and said:

"Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not 

underlaw, but under grace" Romans 6:14

"You are not under law"--which says DO--, "but under grace"--

which says DONE, and that is the reason sin shall not have

dominion over you.

"To me to live is Christ"  Phil 1:21

"Thanks be to God who GIVETH us the victory through 

our Lord Jesus Christ."  1Cor 15:57

He GIVES the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is 

grace. That is the test of the real or the counterfeit victory. 

Just remember this: any victory over the power of any sin 

whatsoever in your life that you have to get by working for, 

is counterfeit. Any victory that you have to get by trying for, 

it is counterfeit. If you have to work for your victory, it is 

not the real thing; it is not the thing that God offers you. 

A woman said to me, "I am trying to live the victorious 

Christian life..." I said to her and others listening, "If any 

of you are making the mistake of trying to live the victorious 

life, you are cheating yourself out of it, for the victory you 

get by trying is counterfeit. You must substitute another word: 

not TRY, but TRUST. You cannot try and trust at the same 

time. Trying is what we do, and trusting is what the Lord 

does.

The tragedy of it it that the Christians of our land have not 

been taught the truth in this matter. Our ministers are not 

able to teach this truth because they have not been taught 

the truth.

A well, known preacher recently said this in a sermon: "We 

all of us need to do weeding, rooting up the bad weeks in the 

garden of our lives. The thing to do is to give your attention 

to some weed, some sin that has taken root, and with prayer 

and effort dig it up. It may take you a long time, but keep at 

it day after day, week after week, till you have weeded that 

sin to. Then go on to another sin.

Dear friends, you do not find anything of this sort in God's 

Word. A victory gained in that way, by a gradual conquest 

of evil, is counterfeit. A thief who comes to Christ does not 

say that this week he will cut stealing by 25%, then next 

week by 50% and in a month he will stop stealing! No, he 

just quits!

The victorious life, the life of freedom from the power of sin, 

is not a gradual gift, and victory is a gift. It is not a growth. 

"Thanks be to God who GIVETH us the victory through 

our Lord Jesus Christ." How long does it take for you to 

grow into your Christmas presents? It is yours as soon as 

you pick it up from under the tree. 

Victory is not fighting down your wrong desires.

Victory is not concealing your wrong feelings. 

One dear Quaker lady was always unruffled under the 

most trying circumstances, and who was approached 

one day and was asked how she was always so sweet 

even when most people would boil over. She said, "Per-

haps I don't boil over my dear, but thee does not know 

what boiling is going on inside." This is not victory!  

Charles G Trumbull

Reader, there is so much in this blog, so many things 

that I believed throughout most of my Christian life. We 

may have read the above scriptures many times but how 

many sermons have you heard about what we have IN 

Christ? Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the 

Prophets; I did not come to abolish, BUT TO FULFILL." 

(Matt 5:17) Jesus took the whole law into Himself on the 

cross along with all of our sins when He died. May God 

give us a new revelation of what Christ has given to us 

through His death and His resurrection!

His Life In Us

There is a life that wins: and that life is the life of
Jesus Christ: and that it may be our life for the ask-
ing, if we let Him--in absolute, unconditional sur-
render of ourselves to Him, our wills to His will,
making Him the Master of our lives as well as our
Savior--enter in, occupy us, overwhelm us with
Himself, yea, fill us with Himself 'unto all the full-
ness of God.'

What has the result been? Did this experience give
me only a new intellectual conception of Christ? No!
It meant a revolutionized, fundamentally changed life,
within and without. 'If any man be in Christ, there 
is a new creation.' This does not mean he can't sin
again. The life that is Christ still leaves us our free
will, we can resist Him. But I have learned that the
restoration after failure can be supernaturally blessed,
instantaneous, and complete. I have learned that this
freedom is sustained and unbroken as I simply recog-
nize that Christ is my cleansing, reigning life.

My three great needs have been met:

1 There has been a fellowship with God utterly differ-
ing from and infinitely better than anything I had ever
known in all my life before.

2 There has been an utterly new kind of victory, victory-
by-freedom, over certain besetting sins (the old ones
that used to throttle and wreck me) when I have trusted
Christ for this freedom.

3 And, lastly, the spiritual results in service have given
me such a sharing of the joy of Heaven as I never knew
was possible on earth. Christ through me brought six
dear friends into a revolutionized life in Him. Life fairly
teems with the miraclulous evidences of what Christ is
willing and able to do for others through anyone who
just turns over the keys to His complete indwelling.

The conditions of receiving Christ as the fullness of life
are simple two:

1 Surrender absolutely and unconditionally to Christ
as Master of all that we are and all that we have, telling
God we are now ready to have His whole will done in
our entire life, at every point, no matter what the costs.

2 Believe, trust, that God has set us wholly free from
the law of sin (Rom 8:2) that He has done it. Upon this
second step, the quiet act of faith is layered. Faith must
believe God in entire absence of any feeling or evi-
dence. For God's word is safer, better, and surer than
any evidence we can discover. We are to say, 'I know
that my Lord Jesus is meeting all my needs now (even
my need of faith), because 'His grace is sufficient for
me.'

Remember that Christ is better than any blessing,
power, victory, or service that He grants. He is God's
best. We may have Christ, yielding to Him in such
completeness and abandonment of self that it is no
longer we that live,
but Christ that lives in us.
Will you thus take Him?
Charles G Trumbull from Victory in Christ

Here are some wonderful scriptures to ponder:
John 15
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 3:14-21
Philippians 1:21

A Winning Life

There is only one life that wins; and that is the life of
Jesus Christ. Every man may have that life; every 
man may live that life.

To explain what I mean, I must simply tell you a very
personal and recent experience of my own. I think I 
am correct when I say that I have known more than 
most men about failure, betrayals, dishonoring Christ, 
and falling short of that which I saw others attaining.

The conscious needs of my life, before there came a
new experience of Christ were these:

1 There were great fluctuations in my spiritual life of
feeling close to God and then far away. I saw other 
men doing as I was not doing. Those men were ex-
ceptional; they were in the minority. Why not me?

2 Another lack was in the matter of besetting sins. Yet
I had prayed, oh, so earnestly, for deliverance and the
deliverance had not come.

3 A third conscious lack was in the matter of spiritual
power that would change others. I was not seeing re-
sults. I didn't see lives made over by Christ, revolution-
ized and turned into firebrands for Christ. Other men 
had such an impact, why not I?

About a year before I found myself intimidated by men
who seemed to have a conception of Christ that I did not
have. How could anyone have a better idea of Christ than
I? Did I not believe in Christ and worship Him as Savior
for more than 20 years? Did I not believe that in Him
alone was eternal life, and I had given up my whole life
to Him? Did I not ask His help and guidance constantly?
Was He not my only hope? I knew that I needed to serve
Him far better than ever, but that I needed a new concep-
tion of Him I would not admit.

Yet it kept coming to me from various directions. One day 
I came to know another minister whose work had been 
greatly blessed. He told me that his greatest spiritual asset 
was his habitual consciousness of the actual presence of
Jesus. His presence was with Him regardless of his failings. 
Moreover, he said that Christ was the home of his thoughts. 
Whenever his mind was free, it would turn to Christ. So 
real was the presence of his Savior.

Several months later in Edinburgh, I heard a man whose
opening statement set my heart to singing with a new joy.

'The resources of the Christian life, my friends, are just--
Jesus Christ.'

Later as I talked to the speaker he said to me, 'Oh, Mr.
Trumbull, if we would only step out upon Christ in a more
daring faith, He could do so much more.'

Before leaving Great Britain I was confronted once more
with the thought that was beyond me, a Christ I did not
know. The text was Philippians 1:21: ' To me to live is 
Christ.' It was the same theme--the unfolding of 'the life 
that is Christ,' Christ as the whole life and the only life. I 
did not understand all that he said, and I knew vaguely 
that I did not have as my own what he was talking about.

A few months later a Bishop spoke to us on the Water of 
Life. He told us it was Christ's wish and purpose that every 
follower of His should be a wellspring of living, gushing 
water of life all the time to others--a continuous irresistible 
flow.

The next morning, alone in my room, I prayed it out with 
God, as I asked Him to show me the way out. I studied the 
sermon, 'For me to live is Christ,' then I prayed again. He 
gave me a new Christ--wholly new in the conception and 
consciousness of Jesus that now became mine.

Wherein was the change? To begin with, I realized for the
first time that there are many references to, Christ in you,
and you in Christ. Christ our life, and abiding in Christ,
are literal, actual, a blessed fact and not a figure of speech.
I had always known He was my Savior, but I thought of
Him as being external to me, one who was ready to come
close and stay by me giving me power and strength. At
last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually within. More
than that He had constituted Himself as my very life, tak-
ing me into union with Himself--my body, mind and spirit--
while I still had my own identity and free will. Was this 
not better than having Him as an external Savior: to have
Him, the Son of God, as my own very life? It meant that
I need never again ask Him to help me, but simply do His
work, His will in me, and with me and through me. What
He asked me to recognize was, 
I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I who live,
but Christ liveth in me.  Galatians 2:20
Charles G Trumbull

Reader, can you begin to grasp this? This is the best
news I have ever heard! In the next blog we will look
at a few more things.

A Story

A veteran missionary friend of mine told me that some
years ago the missionaries had said to each other that
their own daily lives were not of the sort described in
the New Testament as characteristics of the early
Christians. They did not know what the matter was; they
only knew that they longed for something they did not
have. So they agreed to go apart and lay the matter be-
fore God and ask Him to give them what they didn't
have. They did this. God took them at their word; and
my friend, consecrated Christian missionary and veteran
in the service of His Lord, came back a new man in
Christ, with a new life and with a new Christ.

He told of another missionary, a high spirited, high-tem-
pered young woman, about the whole matter. She saw
the truth, and was enabled of God to claim Christ in His
fulness as her Victory, by faith, in the same way.

A few months after my friend, then at a distance, received
a letter from this woman in which she told him her story.
'I wanted to write you at first, but I scarcely dared to, for I
was afraid it would not last. But it has lasted, and, oh, it is
just wonderful! Why, just as an illustration of what I
mean, do you know that not only for three months I have
not once slammed the door in the face of one of these stu-
pid Indian servants that used to get on my nerves so, but I
haven't even wanted to!'

And that was a miracle. Not keeping from slamming the
door--that is no miracle. Any ordinary, unsaved person
who is halfway decent can keep from slamming the door,
by setting his teeth, using his will, putting his hands be-
hind his back, and determinedly not doing what he feels
like doing. No, that is not a miracle. But to go three months
without once wanting to: without once feeling within your-
self that angry surge of irritation, of temper, that makes you
want to show your feelings...does not your heart tell you
that that indeed would be a miracle in your own life?

I don't know about you, reader, but most of us have people
in our lives who irritate on a regular basis. The story above
is truly remarkable. As the coming of our Lord draws near,
I am finding it more difficult, not less, to be in sweet fellow-
ship with the body of Christ, with my own family. I would
encourage you to go back over previous blogs. To many of
you the information is brand new.

Two Conditions

Last week we discussed the first condition which is to
surrender--every habit of your life, every ambition, every 
hope, every loved one, every possession, and yourself--
all these He must have if He is to make Himself not only
your Savior but your life. 

But this is only the first step. Perhaps you made this sur-
render long ago, and have been wondering why you did
not have the victory you longed for. The reason is that 
the Surrendered Life is not necessarily the Victorious Life. 
There is no victory without surrender, but there may be
surrender without victory. 

Once you have put yourself under His authority, then it 
be comes His responsibility, His--I say reverently--duty to 
keep you from the power of sin. He pledges to do so.
"Sin shall not have dominion over you."For you are 
not under law" (Where your works have something to do 
with it), "but under grace." (Where I do it all) Ro 6:14. 
Elsewhere He adds, "My grace is sufficient for you. 
2 Cor 12:9

So it is that our Lord has been waiting for you, not to pray 
for victory, but to praise Him for victory. Many surrendered 
Christians post-pone and prevent victory in their lives by 
praying for it, when Jesus is waiting for them to praise Him 
for it. We are not asking Him to make His grace sufficient 
for us. He tells us that it is already so; and it is our part 
simply to take Him at His word and say, "I thank you Lord."

Let us claim the whole blessed miracle of the Victorious 
Life by praying this sentence prayerfully, thoughtfully, reali-
zing the tremendous meaning of the words, and in our 
hearts praising God that it is true:
"I know that Jesus is meeting all my needs now, because 
His grace is sufficient for me." Charles G Trumbull

Reader, God says that "we are dead to sin"--have you ever
seen a dead man smoking? How ludicrous. But we are not
only dead to sin but, we are "alive unto God." Glory!

What Christianity?

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but
alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11

Is your kind of Christianity worth sending to the non-
Christian world?

I was a boy of thirteen when I first made a public con-
fession of Jesus Christ as my Savior; but it was not un
til twenty five years later that I knew that Jesus offered 
to anyone the power to have victory over sin. I was 
paralyzed by thinking that I must share in doing what 
only God can do. You see, Jesus makes two offers to 
everyone. He offers to set us free from the penalty of 
our sin. And He offers to set us free from the power of 
our sin. Both of these offers are made on the exact 
same terms: we can accept them only by letting Him 
do it all.

Every Christian has accepted the first offer. Many Chris-
tians have not accepted the second one. They mistakenly
think, as I did, that they must have some part in over-
coming the power of their sin; that their efforts, their 
will, their determination, strengthened and helped by 
the power of Christ, is the way to victory. As long as 
they mistakenly believe this they are doomed to defeat.

How did you accept Christ's offer of freedom from the
penalty of your sins? You took it as an outright gift. By
faith you let Him do it all. Will you not accept His offer 
of immediate and complete freedom from the power of 
your known sins, on the same terms, and do it now? 
This is just as much a miracle as the miracle of regener-
ation. And it is just as exclusively the Lord's work.

This is Christ's offer to us now and here--freedom im-
mediately and completely from all the power of known
sin. Listen to Romans 8:2: 'The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and
death.' Are you rejoicing in Christ as your victory in 
this miraculous way? I am not speaking of sinless per-
fection. No. This miracle is sustained and continued in 
our life only by our continuing, moment by moment 
faith in our Savior for his moment-by-moment victory
over the power of sin. But He Himself will give us that
faith, and will continue that faith in us moment by mo-
ment. Charles G Trumbull

Reader, I did not hear about the victory over sins until
very recently. Trumbull is not the only writer on this
subject and when one studies Romans 6-8, and then
applies it ones self, it becomes obvious that Christ did
more than die for our sins, He has made a way for us,
enables us, to avoid sinning.
'"Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit" says 
the Lord.'

Suddenly

Suddenly and without warning a congregation in Texas
was mowed down. One family lost eight and three gen-
erations plus one unborn baby. All of them rose that
morning and got ready for church never dreaming that it
was their last day on earth. Some had no understanding--
it happened so fast. The carnage started at 11:20 CST
which was 10:20 MST. We were praying for the persecu-
ted church world-wide never dreaming that it was unfold-
ing at that very minute. Sunday the fifth of November
was
the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.
As I ponder this and think of the deep sorrow and pain that
so many are enduring, my heart turns to the Lord.

Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones.
Ps 116:15

For you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to
believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Phil 1:29

That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to
His death. Phil 3:10

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in 
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Col 1:13,14

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall
all be changed. For this perishable must put on the im-
perishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But
when this perishable will have put on the imperishable,
and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will 
come about the saying that is written, 
"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 
O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? 
O DEATH WHERE IS YOUR STING?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
Jesus Christ our Lord.  1Cor 15:51-57

The Life That Wins

The past few blogs have dealt with 'surrender' in every way.
Today I am going to lay the foundation for an excellent
book entitled, Victory in Christ, by Charles G Trumbull,
a man who lived from 1872 to 1941.

Dr Trumbull had been serving God for a couple of decades
but he had a growing need based on three things:
'1 He was aware of great fluctuations in his spiritual life.
It seems to me that it ought to be possible for me to live
habitually on a high plane of fellowship with God
2 There was the matter of 'failure' before besetting or
habitual sins. Despite earnest prayer for deliverance, abi-
ding victory had not been his experience.
3 He was conscious of lack in the matter of a dynamic,
convincing spiritual power that would change the lives
of others.'

'About a year before, I had begun to notice that certain men,
who were conspicuously blessed in their Christian service,
had a Christ consciousness that I did not have...one that was
beyond, bigger, and deeper than any thought of Christ I had
every had. I rebelled at the suggestion, when it first came to
me. "How could anyone have a better idea of Christ that I?
Did I not believe in Christ and worship Him as the Son of
God and one with God? Had I not accepted Him as my per-
sonal Savior twenty years ago? Did I not believe that eternal
life was in Him alone? Was I not trying to live in His service,
giving my whole life to Him? Did I not ask for His help and
guidance constantly, and believe that in Him was my only
hope? I was doing all this. How could a higher or better con-
captain of Christ than mine was possible."'

Reader, what does it mean to be 'dead unto sin; alive unto 
God?' Well, in the latter part of Trumbull's life this is what
was said: 'Those who knew Dr Trumbull in his late years
remember him as a buoyant, joyous, earnest, unassuming,
Spirit-filled Christian, journalist and leader. He understood
that the life that abides in Christ and draws all of its resour-
ces from the risen Savior was a wonderful reality that he
experienced.' 

Trumbull gave this testimony in 1911:
'There is only one life that wins; and that life is in Christ.
Every person may have this life; every person can live this
life.

I do not mean that everyone may be Christ-like, I mean 
something much better.
I do not mean that a person may always have Christ's help,
I mean something much better.
I do not mean that a person may have the power of Christ,
I mean something much better.
I do not mean that a person shall be merely saved from his
sins and kept from sinning; I mean something better than
that victory.'

The Blessings in Surrender

'This absolute surrender to God will wonderfully bless.

You may not have such strong and clear feelings of deliver-
ance as you would desire to have, but humble yourself in
His sight, and acknowledge that you have grieved the Holy
Spirit by your self-will, self-confidence, and self effort.
Bow humbly before him in the confession of that, and ask
Him to break your heart and to bring you into the dust be-
fore Him. Then, as you bow before Him, just accept God's
teaching that in your flesh "dwells no good thing," and that
nothing will help you except that another life comes in.
You must deny self once for all. Denying self must every
moment be the power of your life. (Are you still with me,
reader?)

When was Peter delivered? The change began with Peter
weeping, and ended with the Holy Spirit coming down to
fill his heart.

God the Father loves to give us the power of the Spirit. We
have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We now ask the
Father that He would strengthen us with all might by the
Spirit in the inner man, and that He would fill us with His
mighty power. God says to us, "I will do it all for you, dear
one."

How much Christian work is being done in the spirit of the
flesh and in the power of self! How much work is done day
by day, in which human energy--our will and our thoughts
about the work--is continually manifested, and in which
there is but little waiting upon God, and upon the power of
the Holy Spirit! Who is there who truly longs to be deli-
vered from the power of the self-life, who truly
acknowledges that it is the power of self and the flesh, and
who is willing to cast all at the feet of Christ?

What are we to think of separation and death? This death
was the path to glory for Christ. For the joy set before Him
He endured the cross. The cross was the birthplace of His
everlasting glory. Do you love Christ? Let death be to you
the most desirable thing on earth--death to self. Do you think
it a hard thing to be called to be entirely free from the world,
and by that separation to be united to God and His love.
Surely one ought to say: "Anything to bring me to separa-
tion, to death, for a life of full fellowship with God and
Christ."

Trust Him! Do not worry yourselves with trying to under-
stand all about it, but come in the living faith of Christ,
that Christ will come into you with the power of His death
and the power of His life; and then the Holy Spirit, will
bring the whole Christ--Christ crucified and risen and
living in glory--into your very being.' Andrew Murray

Reader, just think of the Christians around you. He is not
speaking "of nominal Christians, or of professing Christians,
but of the thousands of honest, earnest Christians who are
not living a life in the power of God or for His glory. So
little power, so little devotion or consecration to God, so
little perception of the truth that a Christian can be utterly
surrendered to God's will. We are members of a sickly body
that is worldly and cold toward each other."

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! This was written either late in the 19th
century or early in the 20th century. What would Andrew
Murray say about the church today? After reading this,
does it not put a whole new slant on the God's purpose in
our suffering? Paul says, "...until Christ be formed in you."

God Maintains Your Surrender

People say, "I have tried but it seems to fade away and
after a time, is gone. Ah, it is because you do not believe
that when God has begun the work of absolute surrender,
then God holds Himself bound to care for it and will
keep it. Think of it this way. In surrender there are two
parties, God and you, a worm. God the everlasting and
omnipotent Jehovah. Worm, will you be afraid to trust
yourself to this mighty God now? God is willing. Do
you not believe that HE can keep you continually, day
by day, moment by moment?

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love;
Moment by moment I've life from above.

If God allows the sun to shine upon you moment by
moment without intermission, will not God let His
life shine through you every moment? And why have
you not experienced it? Because you have not trusted
God for it, and you do not surrender yourself abso-
lutely to God in that trust.

A life of absolute surrender has its difficulties. I do not
deny that. Yes, it has something far more than difficul-
ties: it is a life that with men is impossible. But by the
grace of God, by the power of God, by the power of the
Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is a life to which we are
destined, and a life that is possible for us, praise God!
Let us believe that God will maintain it.

Such a life has two sides--on the one side, absolute 
surrender to work what God wants you to do; on the
other side, to let God work what He wants to do. 
Andrew Murray in Absolute Surrender

Reader, I am walking this with you. There is much in
my life right now that seems to make 'absolute surrender'
impossible! But I recognize that all these things piling
up brings me to this point: 'let go, and let God.'

God Accepts Your Surrender

God works it in the secret of our heart, God urges us by
the hidden power of His Holy Spirit to come and speak
it out, and we have to bring and to yield to Him that ab-
solute surrender. But, it may, as far as your feelings go,
be a thing of great imperfection, and you may doubt and
hesitate. Perhaps you are wondering, "Is it absolute?"

Have you never learned the lesson that the Holy Ghost
works with mighty power, while on the human side every-
thing looks feeble? Think of Jesus in the Garden. We 
read that He, "through the eternal Spirit," offered Him-
self a sacrifice unto God. The Almighty Spirit of God 
was enabling Him to do it. And yet what agony and fear 
and exceeding sorrow came over Him, and how He 
prayed! And even so, while you are feeble and fighting 
and trembling, in faith in the hidden work of God's Spirit 
do not fear, but continue to yield yourself to Him. Let it 
be in the faith of God that does now accept it. So often 
this point is missed, that believers should be thus occu-
pied with God in this matter of surrender. I pray that you 
be occupied with God. You can say to Him:

"O God, I have accepted Thy terms of absolute surrender"
While your heart says that in deep silence, remember
there is a God present who takes note of it, and writes it
down in His book, and there is a God present who at
that very moment fills you. You may not feel it, you may
not realize it, but God takes you at your word.

God not only claims it, and works it, and accepts it when
I bring it but, GOD MAINTAINS IT. Andrew Murray

Reader, absolute surrender is the doorway to intimacy with
your precious Savior. In these perilous days while we wait
for His coming, we need to be able to hear from God and
then trust Him for the doing. He is our great keeping God!
He is faithful!

Below are two pieces sung by Steve Green. Steve was
launched by Bill Gaither many years ago and many of you
have not heard of him. What impresses me is that he was
only 20 when he began to sing in public, and His heart
still belongs to His God!

Enter In  This is to die for
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYLu_YFoOc0

The beauty of the bride. I have posted this before but
I love the reminder that our Cosmic Groom is coming
for His bride. I don't like the pictures chosen for the
most part, and it takes away my own imagination as
the song is sung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS5Pr8S2YIg&list=RDwS5Pr8S2YIg&t=34

God Works in You!!!

For the past few days we have been looking at Surrender.
One blog builds on another so if you have not read the
earlier posts, now would be a good time to do so. The
blog below is from Andrew Murray's book,
Absolute Surrender. 

'Someone says: 'Oh, I have passed through so much trial
and suffering, and there is so much of the self-life still
remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up,
because I know it will cause so much trouble and agony.'

Alas! Alas! that God's children have such thoughts of Him, 
such cruel thoughts. Oh, I come to you with a message, 
fearful and anxious one. God does not ask you to give the 
perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your
will: God is willing to work it in you. Do we not read:
'It is God that works in us, both to will and to do His 
good pleasure?'
And that is what we seek for--to go on our faces before God, 
until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God 
Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer 
what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His bles-
sed sight. God Himself will work in you.

God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in
you. All these searchings and hungering and longings 
that are in your heart, I tell you they are the drawings of
the divine magnet, Jesus Christ. He lived a life of absolute
surrender, He has possession of you; He is living in your
heart by His Holy Spirit. You have hindered Him terribly, 
but He desires to help you to get hold of Him entirely. And 
He comes and draws you now by His message and words. 
Will you not come and trust God to work in you that absolute 
surrender to himself? Yes, He can do it, and He will do it.

Reader, "You can come with feeble desire and say, 'Oh my
desire is not strong enough. I am not willing for everything
that may come, I do not feel bold enough. But my God, I 
am willing that You should make me willing.'"

God Expects Surrender

Reading again from the first chapter of Andrew Murray's
book on Absolute Surrender. God expects surrender.

'Let me say, first of all, that God claims it from us. Why?
because it has as its foundation in the very nature of God.
God cannot do otherwise. Who is God? He is the Foun-
tain of life, the only Source of existence, the power, and
goodness, and throughout the universe there is nothing
good but God works. God has created the sun, moon, 
stars, flowers, trees and grass. Are they not all absolutely
surrendered to God? Do they not allow God to work in
them just what He pleases? And God's redeemed child-
ren, oh, can you think that God can work His work if
there is only half or part of them surrendered? God can-
not do it.'

'You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You
know that everything has to be given up to its special
purpose and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and the
pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing,
and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand
if I am to write properly.'

'As believers each of us is a temple of God, in which God 
dwells and who will work mightily on one condition--
absolute surrender. God not only claims it, but God will 
work it Himself.'

Reader, when I came to the last phrase I breathed a
sigh of relief. 'God will work it.' We will look at this
in the next blog.

Absolute Surrender

Searching through my library I came across a dogeared
book by Andrew Murray called Absolute Surrender. He
hits the nail on the head and since he wrote it when there
were no copyrights, I am free to write from his words in
detail. I will break up the first chapter into small bits.

My Lord, O King, according to thy saying, I am thine
and all that I have.  1 Kings 20:4

The context is very interesting but it is the words of Ahab
that are the focus here. 'The condition of God's blessing is
absolute surrender of all into His hands. Praise God! If our
hearts are willing for that, there is no end to what God will
do for us, and to the blessing God will bestow.' Murray
goes on to say:

'In Scotland once I was in a company where we were talk-
ing about the condition of Christ's Church, and what was
the greatest need of the Church and of the believers; and
an elderly missionary said that "the condition for obtaining
God's full blessing is absolute surrender to Him.'"

Murray goes on to say, 'I desire by God's grace to give to
you this message--that your God in heaven answers the
prayers which you have offered for blessings on yourselves
and for blessing on those around you by this one demand:
Are you willing to surrender yourselves absolutely into His
hands? What is our answer to be? God knows there are hun-
dress of hearts who have said it, and there are hundreds
more who long to sati but hardly dare to do so. And there
are hearts who have said it, but who have yet miserably
failed, and who feel themselves condemned because they
did not find the secret of the power to live that life.'

Reader, I have asked God to lead me ahead of you so that
my words are not that of a hypocrite. I have obviously
read this book many times in the past, but it is new to me.
I so desire to be a green tree in my old age. What about
you? Well, I am not saying that any of you are currently
old! But, wouldn't it be wonderful to grasp this now?

Surrender

We are assured and know that all things work together
and are (fitting into a plan) for good to those who love
God and are called according to (His) design and 
purpose. Romans 8:28, Amplified

The Lord has been speaking to me about surrender
and showing me more what that means, what that
does for the Christian. I am reminded of a woman
who began to understand 'surrender' about the time
she was diagnosed with ALS. Elizabeth was in her
seventies and full of life. The disease took her
ability to live alone and she went to live with her
daughter's family. I visited her on a regular basis
and watched as her body began to fail her. Toward
the end she lost speech but could use a spelling
board. Elizabeth really understood the wonder of
surrender and I never visited but that I left more
uplifted than when I arrived. She was amazing!

Reader, we are living in the end times when things
come at us quickly and our lives change as a result.
I think of those in California who went to bed and
at 3AM were throwing stuff into cars in order to
flee a fast moving fire. Some did not make it. Many
lost everything. Fires, hurricanes, earthquakes,
tornadoes, are things that are unexpected. Certainly
those who went to the concert in Las Vegas will
never be the same. So, how does surrender make
a difference?

Courage

Be men of courage; be strong.  1Corinthians 16:13

Never pray an easier life--pray to be a stronger person!
Never pray for tasks equal to your power--pray for
power equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will
be no miracle--you will be the miracle. Phillips Brooks

Reader, We were not called by God to a self-indulgent
life. I have thought that I needed courage to fight the
lions, the scary things of life, but it is true also in the
drudgery of life, when I just want out.

It's a Relationship

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all 
your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
Mark 12:30,31

When my boys were young I explained just how im-
portant it is never to allow Christianity to become
anything other than a relationship, for all our 'doing'
is to grow out of a relationship with the living Christ.

I am quite sure that if we included in a mother's job
description the shuttling of every kid on the block to
various activities, with the passing of time that mom
might become resentful. However, the same mother
thinks nothing of providing for her own children. As
she does the laundry, picks up after them, cooks, runs
them to various activities, cares for them when they
are sick, and confronts them when wrong, the thought
of motherhood's being a burden does not enter her
mind. Why? Because the mother has a relationship
with her children.

Few working fathers are vexed by the thought of work-
ing to provide for their families. In fact, a job that is dis-
liked is actually tolerable if one is providing for others.

In contrast, children can believe themselves put upon
when required to act on behalf of the family. That is,
they do not yet see the relationship the foundation of
the doing. As they mature and reach adulthood, they
who rebelled at the smallest inconvenience will begin
to take care of and provide for parents in times of need,
not from duty but as a normal outgrowth of the rela-
tionship.

We must be careful to emphasize the relationship that
we are to have with God. Within the context of this
relationship, anything asked of us is a privilege, not a
duty. We are not told to perform so that God will not
get us, but from love, or as a sign of commitment and
spirituality. Obedience is an enjoyable blessing amid
a loving relationship with our Lord.
Michael Wells, from My Weakness for His Strength

Reader, how many of us serve God because of the word,
'ought,' or 'to please' a God who demands a certain amount
of 'doing good?' It has been a huge relief, as I have aged,
to realize that I am living out my Christian life in a rela-
tionship and not out of the word, 'should.' If He is not ask-
ing me to do something for Him, I am free to take a walk,
read a book, or take a nap--without guilt! Even these
activities flow from His Life. We have a wonderful loving
Father who rejoices in us, in our uniqueness, gifts,pleasures,
desires. Oh, this fills me with such wonder!